birth defect detection
NEW STUDY: The Pew Environmental Health Commission reports that “only 33 states even had systems for tracking defects, and of those only 26 had data that could be reviewed” during the time investigators were analyzing national data on low birth weight and congenital anomalies. Active registry systems reporting births, death, etc., exist in eight states, but the study indicates that in California, Georgia and Texas the system does not cover the entire state.
QUESTION: Do such registries enhance the opportunity to be born or increase the act of abortion when “imperfect” children are detected?
(Reading: “Reporting of Congenital Anomalies Varies Across Nation,” American Medical News, 12/20/99, p. 30)
chemical (medical) abortion
COMPARITIVE EFFICACY STUDY: Researchers compared intravaginally administered sodium chloride solution-moistened misoprostol tablets to orally administered mifepristone (RU-486) combined with oral misoprostol. The purpose of the study was to compare the abortifacient effect of the two methods. One hundred women carrying babies of 56 days gestation age or less were in each group studied. The results indicate similar results, though intravaginal administration of misoprostol carried significantly more side effects.
(Reading: “Early Pregnancy Termination with Intravaginally Administered Sodium Chloride Solution-Moistened Misoprostol Tablets: Historical Comparison with Mifepristone and Oral Misoprostol,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 12/99, pp. 1386-1391)
EFFICACY: In a comparative study analyzing the effectiveness of mifepristone (RU-486) plus a prostaglandin and the combination of methotrexate and misoprostol, researchers reviewed a host of previous studies and recommend a “standard conceptual approach” to this emerging abortion methodology. They report “medical abortion is more appropriately analyzed by life table procedures developed for the study of another fertility regulation technology: contraception. As with medical abortion, a woman initiating use of a contraceptive method can change her mind after some period of exposure and opt out.” The tone of this meta-analysis appears to place the burden of “failure” squarely on the shoulders of the woman and her lack of “precise” use of the chemicals involved.
(Reading: “Estimating the Efficacy of Medical Abortion,” Contraception, 8/99, pp. 119-125; for a case study of RU-486, see RU-486 Files; for background information on methotrexate plus misoprostol, see The MTX Medical Abortion; for the pro-abortion side: Mifepristone Research at the University of Rochester)
MIFEPRISTONE (a.k.a. RU-486) + MISOPROSTOL: A small study of 92 women carrying preborn children with an average gestational age of 5.9 weeks in the semi-developed Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe found that “home administration of misoprostol can be safe and effective in most nonindustrialized settings.” The study was supported by the Population Council. The women sought the abortions because “they wanted to space their children” or “did not want any more children.”
(Reading: “Mifepristone-Misoprostol Medical Abortion: Home Administration of Misoprostol in Guadeloupe,” Contraception, 1999, pp. 167-172)
ULTRASOUND: Researchers desired information on “whether applying modern formulas for mean sac diameter and crown-rump length to data” from recent studies involving mifepristone-misoprostol abortion “would result in differences in assigned gestational ages and a higher rate of complete abortion.” The results indicate that the rate of complete abortion is highest when subjects are carrying babies of less than 42 days gestational age.
(Reading: “Use of Various Ultrasonographic Criteria to Evaluate the Efficacy of Mifepristone and Misoprostol for Medical Abortion,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 12/99, pp. 1419-1424)
contraception
VAGINAL CONTRACEPTIVE FILM: Prevention Plus promotes this product on their website, a product containing nonoxynol-9. Studies have shown that “nonoxynol 9 vaginal film did not reduce the rate of new HIV or chlamydia infection” among sex workers. Prevention Plus does not make note of this on the web site.
(Reading: Prevention Plus http://www.preventionplus.com; “A Controlled Trial of Nonoxynol 9 Film to Reduce Male-To-Female Transmission of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/20/98, pp. 504-510 [1998])
culture of death
MISSOURI: Four years ago George Villarreal III was convicted of causing the death of his preborn twin daughters after assaulting his then girlfriend and, after plea bargaining, was sentenced to five years in prison. After serving two years of the sentence he was released, and has now been charged with a second attempt to murder the same woman, now his wife, who is currently five or six months pregnant according to news reports.
(Reading: “Man Is Accused of Second Attack on Pregnant Wife,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/14/99)
PENNSYLVANIA: The parents of a ten-year-old boy with cerebral palsy abandoned him at a Delaware hospital the day after Christmas “with his toys, medical supplies and a note saying they could no longer care for the boy.” The father, Richard Kelso, is the CEO of a successful $500 million-a-year chemical company, PQ Corporation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The mother, Dawn Kelso, serves on Pennsylvania Governor Ridge’s 20-member Pennsylvania Development Disabilities Council. The parents were charged with “misdemeanor counts of child abandonment and conspiracy … each charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,300 fine.”
(Reading: “A Disabled Boy, a Family in Crisis Mounting Pressures May Have Led a Couple to Abandon Their Child,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/30/99; “Parents of Disabled Kids Relate to ‘Breaking Point,’ But Abandonment of 10-Year-Old Troubles Advocates for Disabled,” USA Today, 12/30/99; the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphiaprovides services to parents)
imposed death
ILLINOIS: As of 1/1/2000, a state law requires “employees at drivers’ license facilities … [to] begin asking drivers whether they have a living will or if they’ve given someone the power of attorney for health matters.” The law allows a sticker to be affixed to the driver’s license that points the treating physician to a wallet card with detailed information.
(Reading: “Illinois to Ask Drivers About End-of-Life Wishes,” American Medical News, 12/20/99, p. 4)
personhood
MISSOURI: Steven McBride was charged with two counts of first degree murder in the stabbing and subsequent death of Nekeesha Hendricks and her nine-month-old baby who was to be delivered one day after the murders occurred.
(Reading: “Not Guilty Pleas Entered in Double Murder Case,” 12/27/99, Columbia-Tribune [Missouri])
reflection for prayer
If we are zealous in doing good, we shall have peace, but there is no peace for those who, governed by human respect, prefer present enjoyment to the future promises. They realize neither the torment that is laid up for them on account of these momentary pleasures, nor the joy of the promises to come.
-Author unknown, second century AD
NEW STUDY: The Pew Environmental Health Commission reports that “only 33 states even had systems for tracking defects, and of those only 26 had data that could be reviewed” during the time investigators were analyzing national data on low birth weight and congenital anomalies. Active registry systems reporting births, death, etc., exist in eight states, but the study indicates that in California, Georgia and Texas the system does not cover the entire state.
QUESTION: Do such registries enhance the opportunity to be born or increase the act of abortion when “imperfect” children are detected?
(Reading: “Reporting of Congenital Anomalies Varies Across Nation,” American Medical News, 12/20/99, p. 30)
chemical (medical) abortion
COMPARITIVE EFFICACY STUDY: Researchers compared intravaginally administered sodium chloride solution-moistened misoprostol tablets to orally administered mifepristone (RU-486) combined with oral misoprostol. The purpose of the study was to compare the abortifacient effect of the two methods. One hundred women carrying babies of 56 days gestation age or less were in each group studied. The results indicate similar results, though intravaginal administration of misoprostol carried significantly more side effects.
(Reading: “Early Pregnancy Termination with Intravaginally Administered Sodium Chloride Solution-Moistened Misoprostol Tablets: Historical Comparison with Mifepristone and Oral Misoprostol,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 12/99, pp. 1386-1391)
EFFICACY: In a comparative study analyzing the effectiveness of mifepristone (RU-486) plus a prostaglandin and the combination of methotrexate and misoprostol, researchers reviewed a host of previous studies and recommend a “standard conceptual approach” to this emerging abortion methodology. They report “medical abortion is more appropriately analyzed by life table procedures developed for the study of another fertility regulation technology: contraception. As with medical abortion, a woman initiating use of a contraceptive method can change her mind after some period of exposure and opt out.” The tone of this meta-analysis appears to place the burden of “failure” squarely on the shoulders of the woman and her lack of “precise” use of the chemicals involved.
(Reading: “Estimating the Efficacy of Medical Abortion,” Contraception, 8/99, pp. 119-125; for a case study of RU-486, see RU-486 Files; for background information on methotrexate plus misoprostol, see The MTX Medical Abortion; for the pro-abortion side: Mifepristone Research at the University of Rochester)
MIFEPRISTONE (a.k.a. RU-486) + MISOPROSTOL: A small study of 92 women carrying preborn children with an average gestational age of 5.9 weeks in the semi-developed Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe found that “home administration of misoprostol can be safe and effective in most nonindustrialized settings.” The study was supported by the Population Council. The women sought the abortions because “they wanted to space their children” or “did not want any more children.”
(Reading: “Mifepristone-Misoprostol Medical Abortion: Home Administration of Misoprostol in Guadeloupe,” Contraception, 1999, pp. 167-172)
ULTRASOUND: Researchers desired information on “whether applying modern formulas for mean sac diameter and crown-rump length to data” from recent studies involving mifepristone-misoprostol abortion “would result in differences in assigned gestational ages and a higher rate of complete abortion.” The results indicate that the rate of complete abortion is highest when subjects are carrying babies of less than 42 days gestational age.
(Reading: “Use of Various Ultrasonographic Criteria to Evaluate the Efficacy of Mifepristone and Misoprostol for Medical Abortion,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 12/99, pp. 1419-1424)
contraception
VAGINAL CONTRACEPTIVE FILM: Prevention Plus promotes this product on their website, a product containing nonoxynol-9. Studies have shown that “nonoxynol 9 vaginal film did not reduce the rate of new HIV or chlamydia infection” among sex workers. Prevention Plus does not make note of this on the web site.
(Reading: Prevention Plus http://www.preventionplus.com; “A Controlled Trial of Nonoxynol 9 Film to Reduce Male-To-Female Transmission of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/20/98, pp. 504-510 [1998])
culture of death
MISSOURI: Four years ago George Villarreal III was convicted of causing the death of his preborn twin daughters after assaulting his then girlfriend and, after plea bargaining, was sentenced to five years in prison. After serving two years of the sentence he was released, and has now been charged with a second attempt to murder the same woman, now his wife, who is currently five or six months pregnant according to news reports.
(Reading: “Man Is Accused of Second Attack on Pregnant Wife,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/14/99)
PENNSYLVANIA: The parents of a ten-year-old boy with cerebral palsy abandoned him at a Delaware hospital the day after Christmas “with his toys, medical supplies and a note saying they could no longer care for the boy.” The father, Richard Kelso, is the CEO of a successful $500 million-a-year chemical company, PQ Corporation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The mother, Dawn Kelso, serves on Pennsylvania Governor Ridge’s 20-member Pennsylvania Development Disabilities Council. The parents were charged with “misdemeanor counts of child abandonment and conspiracy … each charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,300 fine.”
(Reading: “A Disabled Boy, a Family in Crisis Mounting Pressures May Have Led a Couple to Abandon Their Child,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/30/99; “Parents of Disabled Kids Relate to ‘Breaking Point,’ But Abandonment of 10-Year-Old Troubles Advocates for Disabled,” USA Today, 12/30/99; the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphiaprovides services to parents)
imposed death
ILLINOIS: As of 1/1/2000, a state law requires “employees at drivers’ license facilities … [to] begin asking drivers whether they have a living will or if they’ve given someone the power of attorney for health matters.” The law allows a sticker to be affixed to the driver’s license that points the treating physician to a wallet card with detailed information.
(Reading: “Illinois to Ask Drivers About End-of-Life Wishes,” American Medical News, 12/20/99, p. 4)
personhood
MISSOURI: Steven McBride was charged with two counts of first degree murder in the stabbing and subsequent death of Nekeesha Hendricks and her nine-month-old baby who was to be delivered one day after the murders occurred.
(Reading: “Not Guilty Pleas Entered in Double Murder Case,” 12/27/99, Columbia-Tribune [Missouri])
reflection for prayer
If we are zealous in doing good, we shall have peace, but there is no peace for those who, governed by human respect, prefer present enjoyment to the future promises. They realize neither the torment that is laid up for them on account of these momentary pleasures, nor the joy of the promises to come.
-Author unknown, second century AD